Nanda (Buddhism)

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

Nanda was a half-brother of the Buddha, the son of Śuddhodana and Maha Pajapati Gotami. He had a reputation as a handsome man, and was going to be married to Janapadakalyani, when the Buddha enticed him to become a monk on the day of his wedding. Nanda had to abandon his bride-to-be in order to follow the Buddha, a scene which is often represented in Greco-Buddhist art.

Nanda was deeply tormented by his renunciation, and the Buddha had to take him to the Trayastrimsa heaven, where they met with beautiful heavenly damsels (apsarases) under the king of the gods, Śakra. The Buddha promised one of the nymphs to Nanda if he persevered with the life of a monk. Nanda agreed and he became an arhat.

References

• Dictionary of Buddhism, Keown, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860560-9